EONBI
HONG
EONBI
HONG

Soundlings

Soundlings is a motor development toy for age 3 to 5.
The main concept of this toy is to provide various sound feedback through children’s interactions with the toy. Each parts that consist Soundlings has a unique sound role, encouraging children to actively engage with it while they can enhance their muscle control and fine motor skills.

In
Feburary 2025
3-week Group Project
With
Thorben Westendorf

Chenyu Dong

Cheolhun Cheon
About
Sound Design
Sonic Branding
Physical Interaction
User Experience
Form Design
Everything About Soundlings!
Three Parts of Soundlings

Soundlings consist of three main parts: the Leg, Body and Head.
Plus with a base part that functions as a speaker.

Multiple Modules for Each Parts

Each part has multiple modules, and each module contains different sound effects. This offers further possibility to expand Soundlings.

Different Interaction for Different Modules

Each module is designed to provide different types of interaction to enhance various motor skills.

Three Melodies of Three Leg Modules

Each leg module has a different melody. Soundlings activates by placing a leg module on the base part, so each melody will be a basic sound to start with.

Changing Sound Through Arm Interaction

Interacting with the arm provides different sound feedback. By tweaking the arm, sound blocks in the melody are either added or removed. With a simple rule, we can create variations.

Adding Fun with Unique Sound Effect

Each head module has 2-3 sound effects in its own theme. An important rule for the sound effect was to make the sound different, while still maintaining consistency in the feeling of each theme.

Testing With Children

We conducted Wizard of Oz test with two lovely kids, Pim and Boa. Based on their reactions to the sounds, we adjusted and fine-tuned the sound afterward.

A Peek into Our Process
From Rough Idea To A Fine Model
Ideations written on a white boardFinal wooden models and 3d prototypes

What I've learned

Ableton Live and other sound softwares

I used Ableton Live, Adobe Audition, and Vital for the first time, which opened up interesting possibilities for future projects.

Cross-Field Teamwork

Working in a team with product design students helped me understand different perspectives and gave me the opportunity to stand up for my own ideas as an interaction designer. I learned that balancing different values is crucial.

Last words

It was an enjoyable project where I designed sound and interaction in relation to a physical form. It made me reflect on how powerful sound can be in shaping user experience. Also, working with people who had different values and perspectives toward the product and user experience helped me practice finding balance, communicating my ideas more effectively, and understanding different viewpoints.